To Get Him Out of Boredom
by zielddhy
Summary: To the genius and basketball star, Nara Shikamaru, life was too easy. He was, simply put, bored. However, his faithful friends got an interesting idea to get him out of boredom. Hopefully, it'd work this time.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning:** shounen-ai (boy x boy love), languages, sexual references and OOC-ness

**Dedication:** I dedicate this to sonotgoingthere, who manage to put me back into writing by providing interesting prompts for ShikaNeji fanday at LiveJournal.

**Author's Notes:** Hello, welcome to my first AU fic of Naruto. The reason I write this is because I've re-watched '10 Things I hate about You' and 'Grease' recently. The inspiration clicked and my muse hasn't left me since. ^^ I haven't written any multi-chaptered one in specifically five years, but I hope I still can make this one interesting. Well then, without further ado, please enjoy!

**To Get Him Out of Boredom**

**Chapter 01**

**By: zielddhy**

Nara Shikamaru was bored, to say the least. Sure, he was the basketball captain of their prized basketball team, which had earned Konoha High School the National Championship title the sixth time in a row. Although he was a freshman, no one questioned the coach's decision to make Shikamaru their captain, because the basketball star had earned Konoha Junior High School the National Championship title three years in a row as well. As soon as Shikamaru had been confirmed to continue his education in Konoha High School, the coach had made the offer. Not even one senior had had a doubt that the Nara was a good choice to be captain. And they were right. Now a sophomore, Shikamaru had won the National Championship twice, although he still adamantly refused to take credit, saying it was because of hard practice and excellent teamwork that they were able to win national championship.

Being a captain certainly had benefits. For example, his teachers didn't require any explanation in case he didn't do his homework (during Championship season, of course), and didn't question anything when he said he wanted to skip a class for basketball practice. After all, when the student could still maintain straight A's in all of his subjects, why bother criticizing him for not doing his homework and missing out few classes anyway?

Girls and quite a lot of boys fawning over him constantly, he even had his own fans club (which he refused to admit he had anything to do with). Wherever he walked, people waved, said greetings at him, and even at one time a girl begged him on her knees to be his girlfriend. The girl was pretty, he had to admit—she was a cheerleader in their school after all—but looks alone were not enough for him to gather his courage to accept this girl as his girlfriend. Hell, he didn't even know what her personalities were like!

Even with the whole popularity thing going, Shikamaru still didn't feel at ease. He still felt that—no matter how cliché this may sound—life was not challenging enough. Everything he had done until now, be it the basketball Championship, maintaining straight A's, being the most popular jock in school, was very easy for him. Therefore, to put it simply, he was bored.

The basketball star had a lot of friends. His best friends, who mostly were basketball team members, had tried different approach to make him not bored. Of course being the most creative students, the ideas had ranged from a simple cooking—which could be very difficult to some people—to a survival game in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, all of their efforts had gone to waste, because obviously Shikamaru was still bored to death until this day.

Now, Nara Shikamaru was sitting in his History class, and had been spending most of his time looking at the clouds through a nearby window rather than listening to his teacher. Not that he didn't like history, mind you; in fact, history was one of his favorite subjects. Nevertheless, the aforementioned subject still failed to catch his attention. Shikamaru sighed loudly once more, earning a confused glance from his teacher.

The sigh didn't escape Sabaku no Gaara's attention, and he shared a look with his friend, Uzumaki Naruto. Not needing to exchange any word, both of them agreed on one ting: immediate action was needed. When Shikamaru sighed like that, usually it would result in three sessions of practice in a row, without any rest, for the sake of their precious captain's own personal amusement so that he had something to do.

But now the question was: what else could be done? Since the first time basketball team had learned that when their captain was bored it would usually result in three sessions of practice, everything that could be done had been done. Fortunately, some of them had yielded immediate success—Shikamaru was not bored anymore. Unfortunately, the longest they had lasted was no more than two days, and at the third day, the basketball star was back in his bored mode.

Naruto glanced at the clock. Okay, he and Gaara had approximately two hours and a half to figure out a way to make Shikamaru not bored. The blond glanced around for some ideas, but all the students seemed quite intent listening to their teacher, and they had their eyes staring seriously ahead as Kurenai-sensei explained about World War II. Well, nearly all of them, Naruto noted with a smirk, as he saw the most exhibitionist couple in their school—Yamanaka Ino and Inuzuka Kiba—had yet another hands-down-under-the-table-session. Obviously, Kiba had done something to make Ino moan in a not so discreet way like that.

"If you two can't keep your hands from each other, then you're more than welcome in my detention after class today," Kurenai-sensei said, a scowl etched on her face. The whole class chuckled as the couple blushed.

Something clicked in Naruto's head as he spared a glance at Shikamaru—who still thought that the clouds outside deserved his attention more than anything else. Okay, now Naruto had an idea how to make his captain not so bored anymore, but first, he needed an extra opinion. Fortunately, Gaara was seated next to him, and he quickly whispered, 'challenging relationship.'

The redhead stared at Naruto, obviously not understanding a single thing, and Naruto nodded his head towards Shikamaru's direction while his thumb pointed at where the exhibitionist couple was sitting. An understanding look dawned on Gaara's face and a knowing smirk was formed. Alright, this might prove to be interesting. Maybe when Shikamaru was challenged to have a difficult relationship with someone, he wouldn't be so bored anymore. But the question was: with whom? The basketball star could easily have everyone in his bed anyway, seeing that he was the most popular jock at their school.

"Honestly, if you need to have sex, then do it, just don't do it in my class," added Kurenai-sensei.

"Are you giving us permission to leave class, sensei?" asked Kiba with a smirk as the whole class laughed.

She smiled. "Nice try, Inuzuka. Unfortunately, you have to hold your hormones back longer, because right now I'm giving you assignments."

The class groaned and cursed.

A pale hand rose, asking for permission to speak.

"Yes, Hyuuga?"

Hyuuga Neji, the ice prince of their school, said in his soft, timbered voice, "Sensei, seeing as the finals are coming up, do you think it's wise for you to give us assignments now? Won't our time will be put in better use if we study for the finals, instead?"

"Honestly, Neji, the only student who will study for finals anytime during this week is you and you only. Finals are six weeks from now, for God's sake."

Once again the class chuckled. Really, Hyuuga Neji was already notorious for being a book worm. Sure, he was very good-looking, not to mention very rich also, but his cold attitude, and the fact that he preferred solitude than anything else made him do not have many friends. In fact, the only friend he had was Uchiha Sasuke, his equal in silence and solitude. Because of his good looks, however, several guys and girls had tried to befriend him in hope for a one-night stand, but they all were rudely dismissed by the said Hyuuga without even a second glance. Therefore, he was known as the ice prince.

Gaara turned to see Naruto, an equally mischievous glint glistening in his eyes and silently they reached an agreement: Neji's our guy.

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The hot sun provided no help for Shikamaru to stifle his yawn as he walked towards the court. After sleeping through nearly all his classes today, the Nara still felt sleepy, although he suspected that it was because he had slept too much. He knew he was supposed to listen to his teachers, but he couldn't help feeling totally uninterested. Personally, Shikamaru felt he needed something interesting, something challenging, something that could set his adrenaline high. He had considered paragliding before but his mother didn't let him. Hell, even when he went buggy-jumping and rafting, she had freaked out, let alone paragliding.

He turned a corner and suddenly an object was thrust into his face. A girl, a senior perhaps, awkwardly held out both hands, offering Shikamaru something suspiciously similar to love letter. The basketball star had to suppress the urge to leave—as yet another unknown individual was declaring love to him. He had lost count on how many of them had confessed, because, well, there were just too many of them. Some of them declared it boldly, some romantically, and some others, like this one before him, pitifully shy. The girl stared at her feet and the ground beneath as red blush deepened in her cheek.

"Na-Nara-san, please accept this letter," said the girl.

Her friends peeked from their hiding place and giggled. Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he found that it was such a silly situation. Heck, what was it with these girls anyway?

He stared at the letter offered to him. The girl still remained rigid, head bowed down, hands stretched out, face blushing red. Just as the basketball player was still weighing how to tell this girl that he didn't even know her, she made the answer for him by dropping the letter, turning and running away in tears.

That left Shikamaru to scratch the back of his head, his brain automatically functioning, how in the name of everything holy, by not saying anything he managed to make a girl running away from him in tears?

Oh, well. Shikamaru continued on his way, barely noticing how her friends were glaring murderous intents at him.

As he came into the court, Shikamaru frowned to see his teammates huddling together in one corner, with Naruto and Gaara being the center of attention. The others were listening to them in keen interest. Apparently, something funny was going on as they all laughed at something Naruto said. Gaara was the first to acknowledge him.

"Hey." Hmph, trust Gaara to made one-syllable greeting every time.

Naruto quickly ran over to the captain's side and flung his arm around the other's shoulder. "Hey, want to hear something interesting?"

The Nara narrowed his eyes, completely not trusting the blonde's idea of 'interesting.' As if he could read what went through his friend's mind, Naruto immediately pouted, "What? I haven't said anything! Besides, have I ever got you into any trouble? If anything, you should be thankful that you have such a wonderful friend like me!"

His captain chose to ignore his protest, however, as Shikamaru turned to the rest of team and asked in suspicion, "_Now_ what are you guys up to?"

They all looked at each other, except Gaara of course, but then again the redhead rarely showed any emotion, so probably there was not a surprise there, and was that a guilty expression Shikamaru caught?

As they still wondered how to break this news—more like a challenge actually—a cheerful voice piped in.

"Want to get hooked up?"

The rest of the team scowled at Naruto as Kiba smacked the blonde's head. "Idiot. You should put that in a more tactful way!"

Naruto, rubbing the spot Kiba hit him earlier, rolled his eyes. "Then how would _you_ put it?"

The Inuzuka smirked at his captain. "Wanna get a good fuck?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively and licked his lips.

The guys snickered while Shikamaru processed what the hell Kiba had just proposed, his brain immediately running: Get a good fuck? With Kiba? Eeww.

Hold on. Kiba was straight and would never ever turn gay—Shikamaru would bet his basketball career in that. So that meant he had found someone for Shikamaru to get a good fuck. The only reason he did this, of course, was because he knew the captain was bored. Again. Plus, knowing Kiba, the basketball star was sure the chosen bed-partner wouldn't stay permanently.

As much as he hated the idea of a one-night stand, he had to admit that it was nice to know that his friends still cared for him, no matter how bizarre their way of showing it was. He decided that this effort needed at least an appreciation and so he asked, "With whom?"

The team cheered and gave each other a high-five. Shikamaru on the other hand couldn't help but smile at their antics.

"Hyuuga Neji," Naruto announced proudly.

Shikamaru blinked.

And blinked again.

"Hyuuga Neji?"

"Yeah, Neji, you know, the pristine princess."

"Whoa, hold on a minute, isn't Hyuuga Neji a 'he'?"

"Well," Naruto scratched his head. "Yeah, but he has this long brown hair and pale skin thing, plus smooth face. Hell, you can swear he's a girl."

"Rumor has it that he takes such extra care for his hair, trims it every six weeks and all that. Not to mention he's neat as a pin. You should have seen his locker. Hence, the title pristine princess," added Gaara.

Shikamaru stared in disbelief as Gaara _willingly_ provided information without even being asked. The redhead was famous for being incredibly taciturn—bordering creepy—guy. Nearly all students in their school, with the exception of basketball team, wouldn't talk to him unless they didn't have another choice. Gaara glared back at Shikamaru and said nothing, obviously challenging—threatening was more like it—to comment on his unusual behavior. Shikamaru decided not to comment any further and turned his attention back to Naruto.

"Hold on, back on a second. You want me to go out with him? I don't know the guy! Hell, I don't even know if I'm gay or not!" Shikamaru said exasperatedly.

"Oh, we do know that you're bi," Shino, the quiet yet incredible basketball player joined the conversation.

As his captain gave him a skeptical look, Shino explained, "Ino told Kiba."

Shikamaru glared at the grinning Inuzuka and sighed. Well, they were not wrong. He was bi, with a tendency to be gay more often than straight. Ino was his childhood friend, and at one time she had caught him looking mesmerized at a gorgeous male model in one of her teen magazines. That was when she had known for sure that her friend took a liking to the same-sex relationship. She had seemed to understand and hadn't said anything, which Shikamaru had been eternally glad for. Until now, that was.

He took a deep breath and relented. "Okay, but that doesn't mean that you know what my type of guy is."

"Yes, but we won't know until we try, right?" Naruto crossed his arms in defense.

"Sure, but-"

"Oh, come on! Just try it! At least get to know the guy?" Kiba pleaded.

"That's not the point! I mean—"

"Nara." Everybody froze as Gaara dangerously growled. Apparently, he was fed up with the way things were going—exceptionally raucous. As he fixed his gaze on Shikamaru, the redhead continued, "See the guy, if you don't want anything to do with him, leave. How about that?"

Shikamaru stared at Gaara as he weighed the whole thing. Finally, he sighed and gave in.

"Fine. But if I don't like him, then we drop this thing, alright?"

A half-hearted 'okay' chorus answered him and Shikamaru was satisfied, until Kankurou, Gaara's brother piped in, "Until we found the next guy, that is."

This got the rest of the team snickering as the captain scowled. He decided not to comment any further, though.

"Why the title princess anyway? Don't tell he's whiny," he shuddered.

"Quite the contrary, he's exceptionally independent. The title is because of his appearance and upbringing."

At Shikamaru's puzzled expression, Naruto tapped the other's shoulder. "Just see him. You'll understand."

------------------------------

It was lunch time and all students were in the cafeteria as the basketball team all sat in the center table. As the most popular guys in school, it was only natural that they chose the best spot which got the rest of the students' interest. The whole team was wearing their prized leather jacket, the one that reserved only for the notorious basketball team. With all the good looks, the jacket and of course, the famous captain Nara Shikamaru, who to the disappointment of his fans didn't wear his jacket, the team was indeed the center of attention. Today, however, they seemed more energetic than usual. Why? Because today they would point out which one was Neji to Shikamaru.

Right now, however, they were all still waiting for the target to show up. Shikamaru was looking bored as usual and didn't seem the least interested in the whole business. But he had agreed to his friends and he wasn't one to take back his words anyway. Kiba was talking in a loud voice to Kankurou and Naruto eyed the door as he nibbled on a straw.

The Hyuuga finally made an appearance and the blonde beamed, "There he is."

Couldn't help but feeling curious, Shikamaru turned his gaze to the door and he saw him: the epitome of human kind.

Seriously, the genius never saw anything more beautiful in his life. The flowing brown hair, the oval face, the pale eyes that glinted under the cafeteria's lights, the milky white skin, the graceful movements… everything just screamed one thing: perfection. How the hell had he never noticed Neji before?

Noticing the way his captain looked at the Hyuuga boy, Kiba suddenly had an idea. "Want to make this more interesting?"

Shikamaru looked at him challengingly. "What's on your mind?"

"Four hundred dollars. In a month, you've gotta fuck him."

The Nara was interested. Well, that certainly made everything more appealing. After all, he was always up for a challenge. He put on his own prized captain jacket, the one that made him different than the rest of the team, and got up.

He leaned into Kiba and said in a low voice, "Double that."

Kiba agreed, "You're on."

Satisfied, Shikamaru looked at where Neji was sitting and quickly made his way there. Barely noticing that all eyes were on him, he confidently crossed the cafeteria. He smirked; no one could refuse a Nara's charm.

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**Author's Note:** I notice Shikamaru is a bit OOC, well actually he's _a lot _OOC, but then again, that's the only way I can think about so that he'd fit with the story line. ^^;; As for the next chapter, I'll be honest with you, I haven't write anything yet. Hopefully, as soon as I can finish my internship project I'll go back to writing and make the second one. Wish me luck, guys! Oh, and of course a comment/review would be much appreciated. *bowes*


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to its respective owners.

**Warning: **shounen-ai, languages, sexual references, OOC-ness.

**Author Notes: **Today is my birthday, and to share the happiness, I'd like to give this second chapter. ^^

**To Get Him Out of Boredom**

**Chapter 02**

**By: Zielddhy**

"Hey there, gorgeous." Neji looked up from the book he had been reading and found himself staring at a pair of onyx eyes. Looking at someone he didn't recognize, Neji scoffed and buried his head back.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. No one had ever ignored him before. Well, this one should prove to be interesting. He took a seat oi the opposite chair and tried again.

"Not much of a talker, huh? I like that."

Rather than answering, Neji took a gulp of his soda, eyes continuing to read the paragraph. The Nara took a look in what Neji was reading: Das Kapital. Yikes. Fortunately, Shikamaru Nara was not known as a genius for nothing. He knew and had read Das Kapital before, he had a basic idea what the book was about. In fact, concerning the background of Karl Max, it was understandable that the man invented a higher appreciation of labour. But then again, every idealism had their own plusses and minuses, and he certainly wasn't one who could judge which one was better than the other. Shikamaru, however, had a more urgent task at hand, and it involved getting the man across him to talk.

"A fan of socialism, are we?" Another try wouldn't hurt.

Realizing that the other wouldn't leave him alone, the Hyuuga finally looked up and glared.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

Ah, at last, a reaction. The captain flashed his most brilliant smile. "I apologize. I should have introduced myself. My name is Na-"

"I have not the slightest care." Neji's voice cut him short.

The long-haired male stood, gathered his book, and walked away, leaving the basketball star with a full tray of untouched sandwiches and soda behind.

Shikamaru stared at the retreating back of his supposed-to-be victim, unaware of the staring the whole cafeteria gave him. He could almost hear the snickering of his friends at this moment. Sure enough, as he turned, he saw the team all trying to muffle a laugh. A glare from him that promised three rounds of practice nonstop, however, shut them up.

----------------------------------

It was the end of P.E class and Iruka-sensei blew his whistle, indicating the class had finished. The students quickly scampered into various directions, leaving Iruka to collect all the equipments from their softball game earlier. He bent down to pick up yet another ball and a voice interrupted him.

"Iruka-sensei, may I speak with you for a moment?"

He looked up and saw Hyuuga Neji; the notorious bookworm was looking down, handing a bat at him. The teacher picked it up, muttered a thank you, and answered, "What can I do for you, Hyuuga?"

"As you're probably aware of, I was participating in a science competition last week and so was unable to take a basketball test you held that day. Is there any possibility for me to have a make-up test? With the finals coming, perhaps today will be a suitable time for it," explained Neji.

Iruka-sensei had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Trust Hyuuga Neji to use perfect etiquette for everyday conversation. "Ah, yes. The headmistress told me about it. Alright, first of all, congratulations on winning the competition, I know you worked hard on that."

Neji mumbled something inaudible but suspiciously sounding like 'thank you' and Iruka continued, "I'll be out of town in-" he looked at his watch, "forty-five minutes, so I can't give you a make-up test today,"

The Hyuuga opened his mouth in protest but his teacher quickly cut him off by raising his hand, "But, I will ask Kakashi-sensei to take over for me. He is the coach of our prized basketball team. I'll set up an appointment between you two this afternoon. Meet him at the court, do whatever he'll ask you, he'll take some notes and give you the appropriate score you really deserve. How does that sound?"

As the long-haired student gave a cautious nod, Iruka smiled and continued finishing his task at hand: collecting baseball equipments.

Later that afternoon, as Neji found himself walking toward the court that afternoon, he wondered if it was wise, agreeing to let Kakashi-sensei take score of his test. It wasn't that the coach was unfair or something, but he was notoriously known as unpredictable. Nobody could guess what he would do next. More importantly, Neji couldn't guess what Kakashi-sensei would ask him to do to complete this test. Maybe it was better to postpone it and waited for Iruka-sensei.

"Neji!" a voice called out and he halted in his tracks. As Neji turned around, he saw his best friend, Uchiha Sasuke, walking toward him.

"You're ready to go home?" Sasuke asked, indicating the bag and books Neji held.

"I am, but unfortunately I have something to do for my regrettable basketball test," answered the Hyuuga with a sigh.

"And this is regrettable because…?"

"Kakashi-sensei will be the supervisor."

"Ah."

"Yes. I'm heading to the court right now. Do you want to walk me there?"

"I'd love to, but I have a meeting with Kurenai-sensei right now. I'll see you at the court later? Great," said Sasuke as Neji nodded. As soon as the Uchiha left, he continued his way down the court. As soon as he saw the building, Neji couldn't help but feel his stomach churn. God help him deal with Kakashi-sensei.

Mustering his courage, he opened the door and was immediately greeted by the sight of the whole team doing laps around court. The disturbing coach, however, was conveniently perching on a hoop at one corner. How in the name of everything holy he could get there in the first place was beyond Neji's comprehension. At a closer observation, Kakashi-sensei was reading book that with a single look at its cover Neji was certain he didn't want to know what it was about.

The second Neji came in, Shikamaru stopped in his tracks, causing his friends to run straight into his back.

"What the hell, Shika-?" Naruto stopped his ranting once he saw the calculating look on his captain's face. Following the direction his friend had been looking at, he whistled. "Ah, so that's the reason."

"What is he doing here?" Kiba asked Shikamaru.

The basketball star turned and frowned at his friend. "How am I supposed to know that?"

"Well, seeing we have a bet going on, and it has been three days already since you unsuccessfully tried to talk to him in the cafeteria, I imagine you should know the reason why he is here," answered Kiba smoothly.

Shikamaru scowled and retorted, "It _only_ has been three days, Inuzuka. And I don't think I'm supposed to memorize his schedule all the time like a stalker."

Kiba snickered. "Okay, whatever you say, captain."

The captain fixed him with a stern glare and commanded, "Continue with your laps."

"Aye, aye, sir," the whole team snickered now and Shikamaru swore he saw them smirking.

Neji stood uncertainly under the high hoop. He looked up and saw Kakashi-sensei giggling as he read his book. _Giggling_. Weren't all basketball coaches supposed to be strict? Neji indiscreetly shook his head. Apparently, not this one. The young Hyuuga cleared his throat in hope that the coach would notice him. When that didn't work, he called out, "Sensei? Umm, sir?"

Kakashi put away the book he had been reading and looked down. "What do you want?"

Neji could feel a twitch coming, but as a Hyuuga, he maintained his manner. "Iruka-sensei mentioned that I should talk to you about a basketball test?"

"Ah, of course." With a hop, Kakashi was standing in front of Neji. "The make-up test one." At Neji's nod, he continued, "Change your clothes. I'll have someone play one-on-one with you."

"Yes, sir."

When Neji came back from the restroom (he refused to change his clothes in front of people, thank you very much), he saw Kakashi-sensei standing in the middle of the team. Hesitantly he made his way to where the coach was. As he walked there, however, he noticed that he had managed to capture the attention of the whole team. Not just one, but all of them were currently staring at the Hyuuga. Some of them snickered, some of them smirked, and one of them, to his surprise, remained emotionless. There was one other who was staring at him, but Neji paid him no mind. After all, it was not his first experience to being stared at. He had them on daily basis, and had since long ago refused to react in any way.

He stood beside Kakashi-sensei and waited for the coach to notice him. He was currently giving out a schedule list of the oncoming national basketball tournament, something which, of course, Neji had no interest in. He glanced around the court and noticed that their high school had indeed shown appreciation for the prized champion. This court was one of the best courts nationwide, he had read about that in a school magazine some months ago. Apparently, it was all thanks to a certain captain, but he couldn't remember, nor did he _bother _to remember the name of that captain.

His gaze fell on the whole basketball team standing in front of him and Neji frowned as one of the jocks was still staring invitingly at him. He swore he saw a leer in those eyes. Was the jock flirting with him?

Ick.

"Alright guys, that's it. I'm going to give a student here a make-up test, and meanwhile Gaara, I want you to lead the team practicing three-point shoots." Kakashi-sensei ended his lecture

"What about Shikamaru?" Naruto asked. Usually the captain was the one who led them in practice.

"I want him to help me with Hyuuga here. He needs to play one-on-one. I want him to face Nara."

That shocked the hell out of Shikamaru and the rest of the team, although, obviously, for different reasons.

Before the captain could react, Kakashi had already walked toward the opposite direction and Neji quickly trailed after the older man.

Kiba gave his captain a playful punch on the shoulder and said, "Now _this_ is interesting, huh, captain?"

Shikamaru scowled. "I thought you wanted me to fail."

"I do. But I'd love to see him slap you around once again."

The basketball star fixed his teammates a death glare and before he could verbalize any response, a voice had called out to him. "Come on, Nara! Get your ass over here!"

"Keep your eyes on the ball, would ya?" a snickering Naruto piped in.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and jogged to where Neji was standing with his coach. God helped him with this.

"Alright, Hyuuga, I'm going to make this easy for you. You only need to score a shoot on that hoop. My guy here will try to prevent you from doing so, and you've gotta pass him, you understand? One shoot is all you need."

"Yes, sir." Damn, even his voice was perfect. Shikamaru had to stop himself from drooling hearing that voice. Taking a deep breath, he moved into position. His hands automatically dribbled the ball and felt a familiar adrenaline rush through him as he walked. With Neji watching his every move, the feeling had multiplied. The basketball star took one look at those pale eyes and immediately realized that he needed to have a tighter grip on himself. If he didn't, Shikamaru knew he would have made a fool out of himself. He took yet another deep breath and mustered himself, tossing the ball to the other. "Your ball."

The Hyuuga dribbled a few times, trying to get used with the way the ball bounced and felt in his hand. Once he had had enough, he looked up at the guy in front of him. "Are you ready?" he asked out of politeness.

The Nara smirked and replied, "How about: are _you_ ready?"

Getting the indirect challenge, Neji made a move. With his fastest speed, he took a run and much to his dismay, his opponent blocked his way in as much speed as he had, if not faster. Frowning, he opted for the left and actually managed to take a few steps until he found himself face to face with this jock again. He tried again going to the right and quickly found himself in similar situation. Looking at the hoops, he understood he was only a couple of steps away from it. If he could somehow distract this guy, then he could try a three-point shoot. While his brain was trying to figure out what he could do at this moment, his hands still automatically dribbling, Neji unconsciously licked his lips.

And that was when Shikamaru froze.

Realizing that his opponent was somewhat distracted for reasons that were beyond him, the Hyuuga quickly seized the chance and threw the ball. It went through the hoops smoothly.

The Nara watched as the ball bounced off the court's floor and cursed his own stupidity. Damn! He, the captain, had been beaten by some amateur?! If only Neji weren't so…captivating. But then again, that tongue was so beautiful. Come to think of it, it was a breathtaking gesture Neji did back there. If Neji licking his lips already made Shikamaru freeze like this…

"Good work, Neji!" The yell from Kakashi-sensei snapped him out of his musing. He turned around just in time to see Neji giving the coach a curt nod and walking back towards the restroom. Not wanting to lose this chance, Shikamaru jogged and chased after the Hyuuga. His unsuccessful attempt in cafeteria a few days ago had been unfortunate, but this time he wouldn't fail. Keeping that in mind, the captain began to make a small talk.

"You're not too bad," Shikamaru sounded impressed.

"Hn." Neji responded shortly while continued to walk.

"You're familiar with the ball."

"Yes."

"You dribbled the ball without even looking at it."

"Yes."

Feeling irritated by Neji's lack of answer, Shikamaru had an idea.

"Your footwork is quick."

"Yes."

"You can move quite fast too."

"Yes."

"Go out with me."

"Ye-What??" Neji stared at the jock in disbelief as a smirk made its way to Shikamaru's face. _Got you_.

"Go out with me. As a date," he elaborated.

The look Neji gave him somehow made Shikamaru felt like he had done a hideous crime. Without saying anything, the Hyuuga opened the door to the men's room and silently slipped inside. Ignoring the jock who was following him, he took his bag and gathered his books, ready to go home. Walking out of the restroom, Neji saw Sasuke standing by the gym's door, obviously waiting for him.

Shikamaru also noticed Sasuke standing there, but didn't comment on it, fairly convinced that the two were only friends. Best friends, perhaps, but still friends.

Realizing that Neji was there, continuing to walk and _ignoring_ him, the Nara chased after the Hyuuga. He then stopped in front of him, successfully blocking the other's path. As Neji scowled, Shikamaru flashed his most charming smile. "You should join our team."

Fighting the urge to cross his arms, Neji responded shortly, "No, thanks."

"Why not?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I have no interest in basketball."

Shikamaru had an idea and a wicked smile found its way to his face. He took a step closer to Neji, invading the other's privacy and smirked at the way Neji tensed. Leaning down, he whispered in the other's ear, "But I know you are interested in me."

The Hyuuga scoffed, and readjusted his bag and books. As he passed the captain, he leaned in and whispered, "Dream on."

"The name is Shikamaru, by the way, Nara Shikamaru," the captain called out.

--------------------------------------------

"The name is Shikamaru, by the way, Nara Shikamaru."

Neji turned and saw the captain still looking at him. He gave him a glare and left, deliberately ignoring the smirk on the other's face.

"Nara has the hots for you, I see," said an amused-looking Sasuke.

"And why should I care about that is beyond me."

"Neji, I'm saying that the most popular guy in our school, the famous captain of our prized basketball team, has the hots for you."

"Oh, is that what his name is?" Neji replied sarcastically.

Sasuke chuckled, "Come on, Neji, you heard the man in the first place. Otherwise, you wouldn't have turned and glared at him." Neji turned his glare to Sasuke, who by the way was still smirking, and huffed. "I'm tired. Let's go."

Kiba and Naruto looked at each other as they watched the interaction between their captain and the pristine princess. Well, it seemed that the plan was working just fine; at least Shikamaru had something to do now. The problem, however, was perhaps seducing the Hyuuga proved to be somewhat a little too challenging for the captain. Jogging over to where the Nara stood, they stood at each side of him, also looking at Neji. "Are you finally in something out of your league there, my friend?" Kiba put a comforting hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.

Shikamaru eyed Neji's retreating back and said in determined voice, "Nothing is out of my league."

**Author Notes:** Well, what do you think? Shikamaru had made his first move and Neji remained impassive towards him. LOL Please leave comment below, it'll be the best birthday present! XD


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning:** shounen-ai (boy x boy love), languages, sexual references and OOC-ness

**Dedication:** I dedicate this to sonotgoingthere, who manage to put me back into writing by providing interesting prompts for ShikaNeji fanday at LiveJournal.

**Author's Notes: **Well, here it is, the third part of this story. Happy reading! ^^

**To Get Him Out of Boredom**

**Chapter 03**

**By: zielddhy**

Music had always been his passion. Call him old-fashioned, but he had found out in early age that classical music was indeed his cup of tea. A lot of people had heard of great masterpieces done by Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Chopin. His favorite composer, however, was somewhat lesser known: Rachmaninoff. As to when he had begun to like the composer, Neji didn't remember, but the first time he had heard Sergey Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 in C minor, he had been awestruck. And since then, he had always been a fan of Rachmaninoff, although indeed he liked other composers as well. For example, he had just discovered a better fondness to Dvorak, and had decided to search more music Dvorak had composed. Unfortunately, searching for a certain piece of classical music proved to be more difficult than what he had originally imagined.

This was the fourth CD stores he came to, and yet still he couldn't find the composer he was looking for. There weren't much CD stores to begin with these days, as many people chose to download rather than buying CDs. It wasn't that Neji opposed the technology, but there was certain satisfaction when he put a CD in and click the play button, somewhat anticipating the wonderful music he would hear soon. Plus, CD had a better quality than any downloaded music.

A brief look through a list of CDs this store had, Neji satisfyingly had found the name of two other CDs of Dvorak's, and was currently on his way to search them. Regrettably, this store had a huge selection of CDs, and apparently didn't bother to arrange them in alphabetical order. And so Neji found himself muttering yet another curse as he moved between one rack to another. Slightly leaning forward, he began yet another tedious job, flipping through CD stacks.

"Looking for something, are we?" a voice chimed in and Neji looked up, hoping to find a store attendance to help him. Instead, he stared back to a pair of black eyes, belonging to none other than Nara Shikamaru, the famous basketball captain.

Not bothering to hide his displeasure, the Hyuuga scowled and walked away.

"Hey, hey! Hold on! I'm talking to you!" Shikamaru quickly ran over and grabbed the other's shoulder.

Unaccustomed to have other people touching him, Neji jerked the hand off and asked in irritation, "What?"

"I asked you a question, and now I'm waiting for an answer," said the Nara with a charming smile.

"Yes," answered Neji after a moment.

Shikamaru looked confused. "Is that a 'yes, I am looking for something' or a 'yes, what was the question'?"

"That is a 'yes, I am looking for something and I don't want you to follow me around.'" Neji turned and walked away to the nearest classical music stack.

"I am not following you around," came the relentless voice again and Neji couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Gee, what a relief," he said in dry tone.

The basketball star chuckled then, pleased to find that the Hyuuga was so amusingly sarcastic.

"What are you looking for, anyway? Maybe I can help."

Having finished with the current CD stack, Neji walked to another side of store. He still pretended not to hear anything, hoping perhaps this time the Nara would leave him alone. _Tough luck_, he thought as he heard the other's footsteps following him. As his scowl deepened, Neji finally decided that he had enough.

Facing the basketball star, he confronted, "Alright then, Nara, I am not comfortable with you following my every step, I don't like it at all. Now, state your business and let's get that over with."

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was tempted to say: You are gorgeous and I want to fuck you so that I can win the bet. _Yeah, like that would bode well_, his inner self piped in. However, part of his mind managed to come around and nudge his mind playfully. The Nara smiled in amusement, "You know my name, I see."

"Is that your business? Alright, I know your name, now go away."

"Go on a date with me," Shikamaru said suddenly.

"I do not go on a date. I don't do dates. I never date. Now go."

Shikamaru frowned, his handsome face marred with disapproval, "Must you always be so unfriendly?"

A flicker of disappointment prodded his heart and the Hyuuga's smooth fingers unconsciously halted in their task to flip through CD stacks, an action which didn't go unnoticed by Shikamaru. His piercing eyes instantly gazed up, studying Neji's pale complexion, and fortunately he was quick enough to notice a pained expression went across it. The Nara couldn't help but suspect that perhaps Neji actually did know the general opinion about himself. He was, however, blatantly refused to acknowledge that the fact actually troubled him. Only in few rare moments like this, Shikamaru could catch Neji off-guard and was rewarded by a small preview of what the ice prince honestly felt underneath.

Still, Neji Hyuuga lived up to his title thoroughly: he quickly buried whatever hurtful feelings he felt; even a little annoyed by the fact he still bothered by it. Neji glared to meet Shikamaru's eyes, crossing his arms in defense.

"It's my nature."

"Don't you feel, you know…friendless?" Shikamaru cautiously pointed out.

Neji narrowed his eyes. "What? Do you want to gloat how successful you are in seeking friends? And even if I do feel the need of friend, I don't see why this concerns you."

"Because I want to know you. Simple, isn't it?" the answer automatically came.

"Give me a reason then, why I must give you a special treatment to be…friendlier?" The Hyuuga said challengingly.

Shikamaru merely smirked and confidently turned on his Nara charm. He took a step closer to Neji, pleased on the way the Hyuuga tensed as he invaded the other's privacy. Leaning down, subconsciously noticing that he was _indeed_ a head taller than Neji and couldn't help feeling smug about it, Shikamaru whispered, "Because I'm Nara Shikamaru."

Neji raised both eyebrows, as for a moment he was stunned to realize for the first time how egomaniac the other was. A part of him, though, was somewhat amused by the basketball star's antics. As the Nara called him, Neji looked up to find Shikamaru standing at least three feet away from him, smirk still in place. "One other thing, Hyuuga, I don't seek friends; they seek me."

--------------------------------

Nara Shikamaru hit the brake and parked his car a block from the Bratwurst café. It was Sunday, since he didn't have any practice to do (his team practically begged him not to schedule any practice on Sundays) and his parents were out of the country, Shikamaru was left alone this weekend. Humming to himself, the basketball star got out of his car, locked it automatically, and started walking. He deliberately didn't park his car right in front of the café, knowing there would be no empty parking spot there. Besides, he didn't mind the walk. He needed it badly, especially after his encounter with Neji at the music store yesterday. Sure, he did his best to give him a good impression; he acted exactly like what he wanted to: superior. But still, he wondered if it was the best strategy to get to know the Hyuuga, and therefore, win the bet. Up until now, it seemed to be perfectly fruitless. As he opened the door of Bratwurst café, a bell rang to signal his arrival, and immediately he was greeted by a familiar sight.

Now _this_ was the reason why during leisure times like this, he loved to come to Bratwurst café. From the first time he came here, Shikamaru was awestruck by it. Not only that the food and drink were great there, the atmosphere was as well. To put it simply, it was cozy. It was nothing too extravagant, just plain and simple, but still classy enough to make a sort of modern feeling into it. The wooden colour that dominated this room only seemed to give it a warmer aura. Plush-looking chairs were spread around the room. For those who favored stronger drinks, there was a bar, providing great selection of wine, champagne, beer, and mixed alcoholic drinks. Plus, the light happened to be just right, dimmed and perfect for anybody who wanted some privacy, yet bright enough to admire your company. All in all, the café was awesome; it would be a great place to hang out, except for one reason: the owner.

The owner of Bratwurst café had taken a liking to Nara Shikamaru since the first time he came there. Although she was older, she found him to be extremely attractive. Tall, handsome, cool, and definitely more mature than average high-school students. And so, she began to make a move. At first, she came to be a challenge for him. She was beautiful, no—scratch that, she was drop-dread gorgeous. Elegant, smart, charming, overall the quality of an ideal woman. And Shikamaru, as always, was up for a challenge. Therefore, he responded. Every time she flirted with him, he flirted back. It was all good until Shikamaru came to his previous habit: he was bored.

All the teasing and flirting were so monotonous—well, at least for him they were, the same thing over and over. By the third time he visited Bratwurst, he had successfully predicted all her reactions, words, even when and how long she would giggle. And so, deciding to stop all the flirtations, he cut it off. It'd be great if only things worked out just like he had planned. Unfortunately, it backfired. No matter what he said, or did, Shikamaru couldn't get rid of her. Finally, after a long explanation and a punch from Naruto (the medical expense for this was billed conveniently to Shikamaru), she understood that she'd have no chance to be with him.

But the owner didn't stop there. Apparently, she had somehow gained information that this young man was not only the captain of the basketball team, but also actually he was the heir of one of the most innovative company in medical industry. The news of his coming to her café would boost a promotion, not to mention the extra customers she would have when he brought there. Therefore, she increased her attention to him, by of course giving him the best possible service at her café, including complementary snack now and then. This plan of hers seemed to be a successful one, for obviously he was still coming back to Bratwurst café at leisure time like this.

Provided with extra food, Shikamaru, like any other man, couldn't say no. Although this young woman was extremely annoying, he had to admit that she cooked well. The food was delicious and he loved the cozy atmosphere of this place. Compared to those, the owner's behavior was somewhat bearable, and in the end, the plusses outweighed the minuses. As a perfect gentleman in the making, he tried his best to act politely toward her. But still, Shikamaru found her to be annoying.

As if to prove the point, the owner, Makiko-san immediately came to fuss over Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru-kun! How are you?" She pecked and pinched his cheek. "You bad boy, leaving me all alone for two whole weeks," she added with a giggle.

Already accustomed to her antics, he merely smiled, "I've been busy, Makiko-san, I hope you can forgive me."

"Oh of course! You are the captain, aren't you? Of course you've been occupied with practices, right?"

_Occupied with strategizing how to seduce a Hyuuga, more like_, Shikamaru thought.

"If I knew you want to come here, I'd save your favorite place. But as you can see, it's occupied," she gestured to a table at the back.

Ah yes, Shikamaru could see his usual table was taken by … none other than Hyuuga Neji. Well, this should be interesting.

"It's alright, Makiko-san, he's my friend. I'll just join him."

"Oh, well then, I'll come over to bring the food. In the meantime, please enjoy this," Makiko-san handed him a glass of beer, which of course Shikamaru accepted.

"Thanks, Makiko-san," he replied while raising his glass in salute.

Hyuuga Neji, on the other hand, was calmly sipping his own drink. Sasuke had promise to meet him there, but apparently the Hyuuga was early. Lucky he brought his book with him and so Neji decided to wait there. This was his first visit to Bratwurst café, and he had to admit that this café was not bad. It was comfortable, cozy, and most importantly, it was peaceful and quiet. Neji could enjoy reading his book quietly, enjoying his weekend peacefully,

"Hey there."

…until that irritating voice appeared.

Automatically, Neji scowled. _Damn it! Not him again!_

"Are you following me?"

Just as Shikamaru opened his mouth to answer, Neji cut him off, "Or worse, are you _stalking_ me? Eeww."

Shikamaru looked offended, "No, I was not following you. In fact, I didn't know you'd be here. Besides, you're taking my place."

"Your place?"

"Yeah, this is my favorite place. I always sit here and now you've taken it. Therefore, I think it's only right that I'll join you." Without bothering to ask for the other's permission, Shikamaru conveniently took a seat in front of Neji. Deliberately ignoring the glare Neji gave, the basketball star took a sip of his beer.

"Do you always do whatever you want, regardless of what others might think of?" the Hyuuga asked.

"I do whatever I want to do, if that's what you're asking about."

Realizing that the other wouldn't just go away, Neji wisely stayed silent, and took a deep breath. It was no use if he got mad here, that tactic was useless against the Nara (he had personally vouched for that, thank you very much).

"I always thought you're sort of, wine, champagne type of guy. I didn't know you like beer," Shikamaru gestured to what Neji was drinking.

"Well, obviously you don't know very much about me."

"Will you give me the chance to know you better? Maybe we can go on a date, in order to get to know each other better, what say you?" suggested the captain.

Neji gave him a look of disbelief.

"Okay, first of all, what part of 'I don't do dates' that you don't understand? Second, what on earth makes you think that I want to know you better? And the third one, obviously we have nothing in common, so why should I bother with you?"

"Hey, haven't you heard that opposites attract? And besides, that's not true, we both enjoy beer," Shikamaru tactfully pointed out.

"You drink lagers, I drink ale," Neji retorted.

"They are still beer in general."

Before the Hyuuga could reply, Makiko-san interrupted, "Here you are, Shikamaru-kun, our specialty for today." She placed the food in front of Shikamaru. "And this, is for you," she said, putting another bottle of ale in front of Neji.

"I think you're mistaken, I didn't order this," Neji looked confused.

"Oh, don't worry, it's on the house. If you're a friend of Shikamaru-kun, then of course you must be treated special," Makiko-san replied with a giggle.

"Thank you, Makiko-san," said Shikamaru, effectively cutting off Neji before he said something along 'I'm not his friend and I refuse to be considered as such' line.

"Anything for you," she added a playful kiss on his cheek.

Seeing as Neji was still dumbfounded either at the affectionate display between Makiko-san and him or at the fact that being Shikamaru's friend got him an extra beer for free, Shikamaru took the initiative to refill Neji's almost empty glass.

"Allow me," he lifted the bottle, tilted Neji's glass and began pouring the beer down the side. Then he expertly straightened the glass and pour into the center. Guessing that Neji probably like a high head, he raised the bottle a little higher. "Please," Shikamaru placed the glass in front of Neji.

"Nice, Nara. You can pass as a good waiter."

The captain grinned, "Makiko-san taught me that."

"Makiko-san?"

"The lady."

"Ah."

"Yes. Now, Hyuuga, perhaps once again you refuse to go on a date with me. But surely a toast wouldn't be too much to ask?" suggested Shikamaru.

Neji shrugged. Well, it was just a toast. No harm could be done, right? Reaching for his glass, the Hyuuga asked, "What are we toasting for?"

"For a prayer."

"A prayer?"

"Yeah, so that maybe someday you'd go on a date with me."

Neji rolled his eyes and replied, "Let it stays as a prayer, alright?"

Shikamaru chuckled. Both glasses clinked, and each of them took a gulp. As Neji put down his glass, Shikamaru couldn't help but realize that Neji had a bit of foam on his upper lips. Unable to contain himself, he reached forward, effectively locking his lips with the other. His tongue gently brushed out, tasting the foam and cleaning it. Became conscious with the fact that Neji was not responding to the kiss, he pulled away. Neji still remained frozen. _Okay, time for some damage control._

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, but there was some beer foam. And all my ex told me that I'm a good kisser, so…" he trailed off, seeing Neji finally moved.

The Hyuuga nodded once and reached for his glass, but he stayed silent.

At least he didn't freak out, thought Shikamaru. In fact, he looked rather calm.

"It's good that this beer is free," said Neji in low tone.

And he poured the whole glass on top of Shikamaru.

He then calmly collected his belongings, and put some money to make up for his previous ale. Neji stood up, and as he walked pass Shikamaru (who apparently was still in deep shock and thus remained seated), he leaned down and whispered, "Oh, and your ex? They all lied."

Neji quickened his pace, walked out the café, and grumbled, "Asshole."

-----------------------------------------

Shikamaru was still half-asleep as his alarm went off. Not bothering to open his eyes, he blindly groped around for his phone and pressed the turn off button for the alarm. Yawning, he sat on his bed, trying to get focused. It was a school day, and as much as he hated waking up this early, he still had to go to school. Reluctantly, he got off from the comfortable bed and made his way to the bathroom. Still feeling a bit sleepy, he took a shower, brushed his teeth and got ready for school. Then his phone rang again, indicating that there was a text message. Flipping it open, he saw an IM from Kiba that said:

_Day 12. I see little progress there, buddy! Get your money ready!_

Shikamaru scowled. Yes, yes, he knew that. There was no need for Kiba to remind him; the basketball star actually counted the deadline for this bet. It had been twelve days already, but still the Hyuuga remained uninterested, or so it seemed. So far, the only thing he got from Neji other than short and sarcastic answers was a glass of beer poured on his head. Definitely not a good sign. As if it wasn't hard enough to get close with the Hyuuga who had remained stoic, the said guy was now pissed at him.

The captain ran a hand through his hair, a habit he took up whenever he feel agitated. He then tied his hair in its usual style, grabbed his bag, and pocketed his phone. Without bothering for any breakfast, he quickly got into his car and drove to school. On his way there, Shikamaru couldn't help but feel anxious. How was he going to face the Hyuuga now? Damn his teammates for making him agreeing with this! _But then again,_ Shikamaru inwardly chuckled, _I brought this to myself, didn't I?_

The Hyuuga had proved to be much more interesting than what Shikamaru had thought earlier. Never before anyone whom he had asked on a date had refused, and three times refusal at that. Plus, there had been that incident with the beer. Makiko-san had been furious when she had found out that her customer (even provided him with free beer!) had dared to do such an outrageous thing. Thankfully he had brought extra clothes in his car, and so Shikamaru had driven to Naruto's apartment for a quick shower. The blonde then had laughed non-stop for a good ten minutes when Shikamaru had told him what just had happened. In just an hour, the whole team had been assembled there, cackling out loud at Shikamaru's expense. Silently cursing his teammates, Shikamaru turned left, made it to the school's courtyard, parked the car in his usual parking spot, and got out.

"Oy, Shikamaru!" the captain had barely stepped into the hall when Naruto shouted his name.

Huffing, the basketball star turned around to see his teammates gathered around at the center table. Again, Shikamaru absentmindedly noted, they were once again the focus of attention. Kiba was apparently too preoccupied in yet another snogging session with Ino and didn't even turn around to see his captain. Shikamaru, feeling rather resentful at Kiba for getting him into this whole business with Neji, smacked the other's head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kiba protested as he rubbed his head.

Just one look at the Nara's face was all he needed for Kiba to understand why the captain was in such a bad mood. "It's alright if you want to back out, ya know," Kiba said smirking.

Shikamaru scowled. "Who said I want to back out?"

"Just guessing," the Inuzuka shrugged, "Besides, you're not making much progress. Thought maybe I could loosen that up for ya."

The captain glared. "Fifteen laps for the warm up today. And fifty three-point shoots for each of you."

A groan complemented with choruses of 'no' answered him and Shikamaru definitely felt much better after hearing that. As the team grumbled and accused Kiba for making their captain in a bad mood, Shikamaru ignored all this and sat on an empty chair next to Ino. Immediately, he was showered with interrogation.

"So, beer-boy (hearing this, Shikamaru fixed a stern glare at Kiba and made a mental note to give his team twenty laps instead of fifteen), what do you plan to do about Neji?" asked Ino with a mischievous smile.

"How much do you know about this whole thing?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. This was bad. If Ino knew about the bet, then it'd be most likely that the whole school knew, and the worst case scenario was, Neji knew.

"Not much," answered Ino with a shrug, "only that you want to seduce him, that's all."

Shikamaru breathed out in relief. Ino might be the center of the gossip mill, but she wasn't a liar. If she said she only knew that much, then that was the truth. Apparently, Kiba still knew how to shut his mouth. "That's my plan, yeah," confirmed Shikamaru, _and now I'm stuck at it._

Not bothering to provide another explanation, the Nara swept his gaze around and immediately focused on Hyuuga Neji as he saw the other walking down the hall, struggling to carry a high pile of books. Without having a second thought, Shikamaru stood and chased after him. The rest of the guys snickered and one thing crossed their mind: the plan worked.

"See, I'm a genius," Naruto spread out both hands in emphasis and Kiba gave him a playful pat in the shoulder. "Nice going, Naruto."

---------------------------------------------

Hyuuga Neji was struggling to take another step. The books were heavy, and they were piled so high the Hyuuga couldn't even see what was ahead of him. Damn Kurenai-sensei for this!

"Can I help you with that?"

Fully recognizing just whom that voice belonged to, Neji rolled his eyes and said, "If you're planning to ask me out again, you might just as well do it."

"I will if you want me to."

Neji sighed in annoyance. "Not even a beer would stop you now, hm?"

Taking half of the books Neji brought, Shikamaru could now see the Hyuuga's pale eyes. Flashing him his most charming smile, he said, "A simple date with you would stop me."

Neji's eyes narrowed at that. Finally, he huffed, "Okay."

The captain raised both eyebrows. "Say what?"

"One date. Then you stop asking me out."

_Now_ Shikamaru was grinning. "Well, pick you up on Friday then."

Neji nodded and placed all his books on top of those Shikamaru were carrying. Walking away, he gave the instructions, "Carry those to AV Room, Kurenai-sensei is waiting."

The Nara rolled his eyes, the date had not commenced yet and Neji was already ordering him around. Now that he was struggling beneath all the heavy books, Shikamaru began to walk, until something clicked and stopped him in his track.

"_I do not go on date. I don't do dates. I never date. Now go."_

_Damn,_ Shikamaru thought, _I'd get to deflower a virgin._

**Author Notes: **Well then, there it was, I hope it's entertaining enough for all of you. ^^ I hope I'm not making Neji sounded more pompous and arrogant than what he should have, although part of me couldn't help but thinking that being arrogant actually a part of Neji's charm.

Anyway, please leave a comment, and thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning:** shounen-ai (boy x boy love), languages, sexual references and OOC-ness

**Author's Notes:** Really apologize for the laaaaatttteeeee update. I better hide now.

**To Get Him Out of Boredom**

**Chapter 04**

**By: zielddhy**

_Damn it, too much people as usual,_ Shikamaru noted with disapproval as he walked into the school cafeteria that day. Without bothering to stop, he pushed his way through the crowd, which proved to be an easy task seeing that most of the students parted themselves quite willingly, letting the captain sauntered through smoothly. The Nara's sharp black eyes immediately located where his teammates sat at, in the centre table as usual, his brain subconsciously pointed out. A seat was left empty for him no doubt, and apparently nobody tried to snatch them. Of course, everybody who tried to do otherwise would soon find themselves as the object of Gaara's notorious glare, which Shikamaru could personally testify as a nerve-wracking experience. Really, his vice captain could be _so_ scary sometimes.

As he walked over to where his friends sat, several girls squealed with glee. The reason? Simple: Shikamaru was wearing his prided captain's jacket, thus make him even more handsome than usual. It was such rarity for the captain to wear that if not in a competition or practice. Therefore, when Shikamaru finally occupied the empty seat, Naruto couldn't help but asked, "What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru looked confused.

"The jacket," Kiba gestured with his chin. The rest of the team grunted in support, minus Gaara who continued eating his lunch in silent.

"I just felt like it," shrugged the captain casually.

Well, now _that_ caught Gaara's attention. Shikamaru would never do something just because he felt like it. Usually he had a very good explanation as to why he did this and not that. Even his cloud-watching activities were based on his admiration towards the puffy white lumps. So, there should be no reason why Shikamaru would wear his jacket just because he felt like it. There had to be some basic explanation behind it. And soon it dawned to Gaara.

"You got a date," pointed the redhead in his quiet voice.

Still, it was loud enough to make everybody at the table became silent. At least the silence lasted for a while, before they erupted into whooping and laughing.

"A date?" Kankurou managed to say between guffaws. "Finally getting some Hyuuga ass, huh?"

"Well, he should be," chirped in Naruto, "It's day fifteen already. But it's kinda slow for Shikamaru, don't you think?"

"Seeing how half of the month was spent with Shikamaru getting his ass kicked by that pristine princess, no wonder it's slow," commented Kiba while nibbling on a straw with a large grin on his face. Shikamaru soon found himself devoured by an urge to kick Kiba straight in the face just to wipe that huge grin. Thank God he could still contain himself not to do it, or else they would have to find another player to replace the Inuzuka on the upcoming championship.

Shikamaru congratulated himself as he successfully glared -just glared and nothing else- at Kiba while the rest of the team snickered. "Yeah right," the Nara replied sarcastically, "try putting yourself in my shoes, I'll be the one laughing when he's kicking your ass."

"Oh, but I'm not the one who's _bored_," Kiba answered smoothly, emphasizing on that last word as his mouth curled in yet another smirk. The team chuckled once again, conveniently ignoring their captain whose scowl deepened. After that, the conversation changed into upcoming championship, which they would soon face after final test was over. The basketball team of Konoha High School was once again favoured as the winner by several sport magazines, but of course they still need to practice hard. Shikamaru then would have proceeded to start explaining the team's practice schedule if it wasn't for Shino, in his own quiet way, suddenly interrupted the conversation.

"Captain, your date is here."

Shikamaru stopped talking and whipped his head around instantly, fully expecting to see the Hyuuga behind him. He wasn't disappointed when he saw Neji walked towards where he sat, with Uchiha Sasuke on his side. Each of them was carrying a lunch tray, and by the looks of it, they were having a pleasant conversation.

They stopped walking and took a seat, three tables from where Shikamaru was. Neji didn't seem to acknowledge his presence, and so Shikamaru turned his attention back to his teammates. Communicating a schedule for practice was one of the captain's responsibilities after all. He reached inside his bag and pulled a stack of paper. Giving each member several pages, he proceeded to explain what they were about.

"Okay, listen up. This is timetable for our practice session. Read carefully, make sure you understand it. I don't want anybody late for any of these practices, or you'll find yourself running laps until I tell you to stop. Got it?"

A half-hearted chorus of 'okay' answered him. Nobody spoke for a moment and Shikamaru let himself a peace of quiet and silent as his teammates studied the timetable intently. That was, until once again Shino noticed something strange and pointed it out.

"Shikamaru, we don't have any practice this Friday and the next Friday?"

"Nope," answered the captain.

"Why?"

"Well, next Friday is my birthday. So, I think it'd be great if we have a party at my dad's club. Drinks are on the house. What do you say?" The Nara smirked as Naruto, Kankurou and Kiba stared at him, mouth gaping.

"Holy shit, are you serious?" asked Kiba. Shikamaru's father owned one of the hottest clubs in town as a side business. It might seem strange at first, because owning a club was such an opposite business from the medical fields the Nara excelled at. But hey, it all came down to money in the end, and so no one questioned it anymore. Especially after seeing the club that Nara Shikaku owned was such success between men and women alike within just first month from its opening. They were high on security of course, but if the owner's son wanted to come, no security guards could forbid him. Unfortunately, no matter how Naruto, Kankurou and Kiba begged Shikamaru to bring them there, the basketball captain always refused, saying that he wasn't in the mood. So, what brought this on? Even the drinks were on the house. Gaara had to wonder at that.

"Yeah," Shikamaru answered Kiba's question with a smirk, "What can you say, I'm a very generous guy."

Then, the redhead chuckled. "Hyuuga really put you in such good mood, huh?" Gaara stated nonchalantly, much to the amusement of their friends. Once again, the whole table erupted into laughing scene.

"So," Kankurou wiped a tear, "the reason why we don't have practice this Friday is because you have a date with him?" Gaara shared a knowing smirk with his brother.

The Hyuuga mansion that stood imposingly grand didn't even deter Shikamaru from excitement as he put his car to a stop. Ringing the intercom, he casually reached for a pack of cigarettes he always kept in the car. Before he managed to light them, however, a voice from the intercom asked what his business was at the Hyuuga manor.

"I'm picking up Hyuuga Neji."

"May I have your name?"

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Very well, sir. And I must apologize, but you cannot smoke at Hyuuga mansion."

Even the intercom, CCTV and non-smoking policy didn't deter Shikamaru from excitement.

The gate opened automatically and Shikamaru replied a thank you towards the intercom. Feeling particularly satisfied with himself, the basketball star drive leisurely in the driveway headed for the porch. In front of him, there was a black sedan waiting and whom he supposed was Neji's relative coming out from the double door. Shikamaru then pulled his car to a stop behind the black car. Always a polite fellow, he got out from his car and bowed respectfully.

Hyuuga Hiashi glanced as a silver Porsche coming towards him. Then he saw a young bloke, perhaps the same age as Neji, bowed to him while saying 'Good evening.' His driver still held the car's door opened, apparently waiting for him to get in. But he was more interested as he saw this stranger. The first thing that came across Hiashi's mind was that this was a handsome fellow. Very good looking, and although usually he wouldn't approve at a guy who wears accessories, the small hoop dangled in the other's ear only made him looked even more attractive. The way he dressed was very casual, but still proper enough to be admitted into any luxurious hotel and clubs. And from what Hiashi could tell, this young bloke was an athlete, or at least he played a sport on regular basis. Then he remembered that he hadn't replied to the other's greeting earlier.

"Good evening to you too. I assume you are a friend of my daughters?" Hiashi asked out of courtesy.

"I'm picking up Hyuuga Neji. For a date," Shikamaru didn't mean the last part to come out, but somehow it did.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at that. "My nephew has a date?"

Shikamaru was stunned when he heard what the other said. True, his face remained as what it had been, but stunned he was nonetheless. His brain automatically functioning: _Oh shit, this is Neji's uncle! And from what I've heard from Kiba, he was totally overprotective towards his nephew. Why do I have to meet directly with __**the **__uncle already? It's only my first date, damn it! _If a grand Hyuuga mansion combined with intercom, CCTV and non-smoking policy didn't deter Shikamaru from excitement, apparently meeting Hyuuga Hiashi did.

But if Shikamaru was feeling uncomfortable from Hiashi's scrutinizing gaze, he didn't show any of that. His outward appearance remained calm and the Hyuuga had to applaud him when the captain merely raised an eyebrow back, eyes glinted in feigned confusion, mouth curled in polite smile as he spoke a silent challenge, "Yes I believe so. I conclude there will be no objection?"

Had Hiashi was a man who wear expressions generously, he would have smiled at the bravery this youngster uttered. "No, of course not. I was just unaccustomed with the fact that my nephew agreed to have a date."

"Only when forced, uncle." A smooth voice joined in as Neji appeared at the doorway.

The basketball captain smiled wider. He gazed approvingly at the younger Hyuuga's attire. Really, Neji was truly beautiful. Even when he was dressed in just a pair of dark jeans and black shirt, hair tied in one simple knot, Neji still looked beautiful. Give him a cape and he would pass as a very good looking vampire, Shikamaru mused.

An amused looking Hiashi (although his amusement was only visible by a very slight quirk on his lips) nodded and said, "Very well then. I'll be back at two at the latest, make sure you'll be back by then."

"Oh, this won't take very long, uncle, I can assure you that," Neji answered while looking at Shikamaru.

The Nara had to look down as he fought the urge not to smile. Neji's eagerness to end this date only showed that the Hyuuga was in fact uncomfortable with him. It meant that he was finally getting under Neji's skin deep enough to make him uncomfortable. _This was a good sign._

"Have fun, you two," Hiashi said while getting in the black sedan. The driver quickly went to the front seat, and soon Neji and Shikamaru were left alone at the front porch.

_Doubtful_, replied Neji inwardly. He gazed at the basketball star, disdain clearly shown and a scowl marked his handsome face. Shikamaru, on the other hand, only looked at him and smiled, "Shall we?"

The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes, "Let's get this over with," replied Neji as he walked briskly past the smiling Nara. Seating at the passenger's seat, he quickly put on the seatbelt while Shikamaru got behind the wheel. The Porsche made its way through the front gate smoothly as once again it opened automatically. Silence fell over them, and as much as Shikamaru like enjoying the feeling of night wind, he couldn't help but glancing at his companion. Neji still sat rigidly, his back was so straight and tense Shikamaru was sure the Hyuuga might snap a vertebra sooner or later. Hand still folded neatly together and placed on his lap. Although tied, but with the top of the car down, a few strands of Neji's hair was whipped around his forehead. His face still held a disdain, but Shikamaru was sure that this time it was because his choice of transportation. Clearly, sports cars were not The Hyuuga's cup of tea.

"Do you want the top put on?" asked the captain out of politeness.

"No, it's alright," The Hyuuga answered as rigid as his sitting position.

Shikamaru chuckled. Denial. Neji was _so_ in denial it made Shikamaru liked him even more. His right hand left the wheel for a moment and pushed the button to put the top on. In a matter of seconds, the top was put on automatically and soon Neji find himself in the safety of full top car. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but still couldn't stop himself retorted in irritation. "I said it was fine."

"No, you said it was alright. And alright doesn't hold the same meaning with fine, it was less," replied Shikamaru with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Neji let out a frustrated sigh and didn't bother to reply.

"You look good." Shikamaru said for the sake of filling the silence that soon began to infuriating him.

"It's just a jeans and shirt."

"But still, you look good in them. In fact, you always look good."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere."

"Oh trust me, Hyuuga, when I'm the one saying them, flattery will get me anywhere," countered Shikamaru proudly. Once again, Neji resisted an urge to roll his eyes, and hey he was successful. Whoopee. Damn it, how can a man had an ego this big?

"So, where do you wanna go?" asked the captain.

"Home," Neji answered straightaway. The fact that he didn't stop to think even for a second made Shikamaru grinned. Really, the Hyuuga was so amusing, he owed it to his friends for giving him the opportunity to get to know Neji better. However, the bet came to his mind and he couldn't help but feeling a little guilty. But no, not this night, Shikamaru decided, tonight he was going to enjoy his date with Neji, and that's it.

"Come on, we can't do that, you know we can't. I know, I'll decide where we'll be going tonight. After all, we're going to a date, even if it's forced," Shikamaru made a note of Neji's remark earlier. Again, the Hyuuga opted for no answer.

"Don't you want to know how do I know where you live?"

"No." Denial. Again. Shikamaru could feel another grin made its way on his face.

"…yes," Neji said after a minute and the basketball star knew his grin transformed into a smirk. _Bingo._

"Ask me the question, then."

Neji let out yet another frustrated sigh, "How do you know where I live?" _Stalker._

"I know a lot more than you think," Shikamaru replied. When he saw Neji finally rolled his eyes, he felt much better. _Finally, he's relaxing a bit._

"When's your birthday?" the captain again asked.

"You know a lot less than you think."

Shikamaru chuckled at the Hyuuga's answer. "I'm just asking. Because, my birthday is next week; we're having a party at that club downtown. You wanna come?"

"What makes you think I would be willing to attend?"

"Well, seeing that it's my birthday party and that I invited you personally, I think you should come. It'll be great, we're gonna have fun, drinks are on the house; we'll dance a little bit, and maybe have a sex or two. Kidding," he added after Neji's glare directed at him.

"So, asking for my birthday is an opening line for invitation?"

"You can say that. You wanna come?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"My mood."

"I see. Well then, I'd better make sure you're in a good mood when tonight ends. By the way, we're here."

Neji stared at the building ahead of him. "We're going to a hospital?" he asked in disbelief. Yes, apparently the Nara had a very different idea on what a date should be and Neji finally conclude that the Nara was actually a mental case. After all, what kind of sensible person would bring his date to a hospital? And a first date at that. There's only two things can be said at the end of first dates: either you would see him/her on a second date, which means of course you have a pleasant evening, or that you would dump him/her to the nearest garbage can. And from Neji's point of view, Nara Shikamaru was well on his way to the latter choice.

The basketball star headed for a parking lot and put his car to a stop. "Yeah, what do you expect?"

"A morgue?" _Or perhaps a cemetery to dump your body somewhere._

Shikamaru laughed, "I knew you're gonna say that. Anyway, we're going to the roof." He got out of the car, and as Neji slam the door, the captain automatically locked it. When they entered the hospital's lobby, Neji asked,

"What's on the roof?"

As he pressed a button for the lift, Shikamaru answered with a smile, "Stargazing."

If Neji had any doubt initially that Nara Shikamaru was the most bewildering individual he had ever met before, that doubt was erased by the second he entered the hospital's roof. They would do stargazing on hospital's roof? What activity could be more wasting time than stargazing? Well, perhaps cloud-watching would be worse. But still, a Hyuuga should not waste his precious time by an idle activity by stargazing, for God's sake. He could do a million better things than this, damn it!

The Hyuuga didn't even bother to conceal his displeasure, and so when Shikamaru looked at him, the basketball star chuckled, "Come on, stargazing isn't that bad. Well, I admit I like cloud-watching better, but it's night now so we can't do that. Besides, it's very relaxing activity, you can think of whatever you want while admiring beautiful stars above."

Shikamaru plopped down and lay on his back. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the Hyuuga finally sat besides him. Legs folded neatly beneath him, hands placed on his laps, necks straining as Neji gazed above.

"You won't be comfortable for long if you sit like that," the Nara pointed out.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you," replied Neji.

Shikamaru shrugged. _Suit yourself._ He proceeded to watch the stars above. Thankfully, it had been a clear night; he could see the tiny little dots clearly. And the fact that the hospital was the highest building around also helped him watching the stars, the captain mused contently. It wasn't long, however, when his peaceful silence was interrupted by his companion asking, "What's the point in this?"

Silence fell between them once again as Shikamaru considered an answer. "I don't know. It's just something I like to do sometimes."

Not knowing how to reply on that, Neji opted to stay silent. However, the Hyuuga was not used to do something that, in his opinion, completely unproductive. Not wanting to offend the Nara, he initially had looked at the stars above (and couldn't see anything more than just a group of bright dots), and soon began to be restless. He squirmed here and there, trying to occupy himself with an activity. Plus, his neck began to strain uncomfortably.

The basketball star noticed all this, of course, and after seeing Neji squirmed and move relentlessly, he soon realized there was no point in stargazing anymore, at least not when his companion was in such discomfort. Still, he found certain amusement in seeing the Hyuuga trying. Finally, he relented. "I'll get a chess set. Wait here, and don't go anywhere."

"What?"

"I said I'll get-"

"I heard you the first time," Neji cut him off.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't ask," replied Shikamaru with a smirk. Tuning out whatever retort Neji had, he got up and began to walk downstairs. He should be able to get a chess set from that beautiful receptionist at the front desk. After all, this was his father's hospital. Add that to a brilliant and charming manner, Nara Shikamaru always get what he wants in here. Whistling to himself, he pushed a button inside the elevator. Fortunately, no one needed an elevator at that moment, and so Shikamaru's journey to the ground level descended smoothly and without interruption. Glancing at his wristwatch, he realized it was almost the time to eat dinner, but still, he wanted to play chess with Neji, at least for a game. Nonetheless, if he was hungry, then it was very possible that the Hyuuga would be in similar condition. Shikamaru knew better than anyone that nobody can give their best performance in chess with an empty stomach, and so he ordered small snacks at the hospital's cafeteria. While waiting for his order to be finished, he walked towards receptionist area.

Two minutes and a charming smile proved to be all Nara Shikamaru needed to get a beautiful chessboard, complete with two fluffy pillows for sitting. The receptionist even put all these into a big paper bag, of course so that he could carry them easier. After getting the snacks he had ordered earlier, Shikamaru quickly made his way upstairs again, not wanting to make Neji waited too long, he predicted the Hyuuga would be bored already and no longer sitting. He was right again, Shikamaru smirked inwardly, and the first thing he saw on the roof was Neji's standing form. The Hyuuga seemed perfectly content though, as he looked at the scenery below.

"Chips?" Shikamaru offered, wanting to get Neji's attention.

The Hyuuga turned around and quickly scanned everything the basketball star brought. "I thought you wanted to play chess," he commented dryly. His companion merely smirked; he lifted the paper bag higher and replied, "It's in here."

Neji watched as the other placed everything on the (dirty) floor. He must admit though, the Nara worked efficiently. In no time, he had set two fluffy sitting pillows facing each other, with a chessboard complete with all the pieces stood in perfect order. Next to the board, the chips and dipping sauce accompanied with several bottle of beer stood innocently and in Neji's opinion, very tempting indeed. He had missed lunch today, too engrossed in his study while locking himself in the family library. Of course, when he realized he had been studying for too long, it was far over lunch time and almost when Shikamaru would pick him up. Therefore, when the basketball captain offered him the food, Neji didn't think twice before taking a chip. Dipping it in the sauce, he realized the Nara's sharp eyes were fixed on him.

Watching Neji eating was definitely a mesmerizing experience, Shikamaru decided. By God, it was only chips with dipping sauce, but he could make it looked so seductive. First, he picked one of the available chips, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. Dipping it into the creamy white sauce, Shikamaru watched as Neji twirled the chip lightly, coating a small part with sauce. Then he carefully lifted it, and those full lips opened, only a little but it was enough. Neji's mouth slowly enclosed, and a small movement told him that the Hyuuga bit into the chip. The half-eaten chip stayed several centimetres away from the closing mouth, but Shikamaru could only stare as Neji politely chewed. A little sauce was left at the corner of Neji's lips and Shikamaru felt his pants tightening when the Hyuuga's tongue emerged and delicately licked the sauce. _Damn_, the captain thought, _I'm not going to get an easy sleep tonight._

"You can go first," Neji said breaking the silence as he was uncomfortable with the way Shikamaru continuously stared at him.

"Right," Shikamaru awkwardly answered. _Focus, Shikamaru, you've got a game to win. _

The chess game between them proved to be much more challenging than what he originally thought, Neji mused. Initially he suspected it to be somewhat dull, bordering tedious actually. But it seemed that the Nara wasn't unintelligent. Neji had to admit, the way Shikamaru played their game was pretty good. In fact, he was impressed. The Nara was unhurried, calculating his moves and taking his sweet time as he saw fit. Plus, he seemed to be a master in a matter of chess. Which was probably the reason why Neji was losing right now. It wasn't that the Hyuuga was inexperienced; indeed he was good enough to beat even Hiashi sometimes. But the basketball star was on a different level, Neji acknowledged this grudgingly. If he couldn't find new strategy anytime soon, it would be checkmate for his king in the next five steps.

The road back home was somewhat quiet, in Shikamaru's opinion. But then again, how could he expect any difference from the ice prince currently seated at the passenger's seat? The Hyuuga didn't seem to be irritated by the fact that he had lost their friendly chess game earlier though, at least, the scowl in that pretty face stayed pretty much the same. Moreover, the dinner afterwards went smoothly. True, it wasn't on some fancy restaurant; they were only on a first date after all. Wanting the other to feel comfortable with him, the basketball star brought the other to Bratwurst café instead. He had originally thought that a familiar atmosphere would help loosening the Hyuuga up.

But oh boy, how wrong he was.

The moment they entered the café, Neji immediately plopped down to the nearest table, and refusing to move even after Shikamaru told him he had reserved them a table at the back. The Hyuuga had even tactfully threatened that unless Shikamaru wanted another beer on his head (he hadn't forgotten about it yet, damn it!), he'd better let Neji chose the table. Of course after this blackmail was said, Shikamaru obediently sat across the Hyuuga.

Dinner was served soon after, accompanied with several bottles of beer. The captain noted with amusement that even though Neji seemed slim and rather thin, he actually ate a lot. Starting with a bowl of mushroom cream soup accompanied with few pieces of crusty bread, he devoured a full plate of grilled lobster with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus on the side. Next, he ordered a flaky crusted chicken pie and ended it with _two_ slices of tiramisu for dessert. Shikamaru couldn't believe that they had had a whole portion of chips and dipping sauce earlier; it looked like Neji hadn't eaten for a week. But still, somehow the Hyuuga managed to consume all that with such grace. Do you know anyone who could eat _lobster_, for God's sake, with such good manners and so seductive like eating a slice of thin chocolate? Well, Hyuuga Neji was one of them. Nonetheless, the Hyuuga eating was definitely a show worth to watch.

When they had finished, it was already late, around one in the morning. Deciding that the night was suitable enough for first date, and they still had school tomorrow, the captain then drive Neji home, remembering that Hiashi demanded them to be home no more than two.

_I think he's enjoying himself_, Shikamaru thought as he turned in a corner, _but it's hard to tell, his expression remained pretty much the same._ They would arrive at Hyuuga Mansion soon, but still the ice prince seated rigidly next to him spoke no word. The basketball star himself was content with the silence between them; by opening the window inhaling a refreshing night air now and then. Once again the top of his Porsche was put on, much to Neji's courtesy.

Within ten minutes they entered through the Hyuuga's gate. This time, seeing Neji was in the car, the gate opened without Shikamaru had to speak over the intercom first. The car sauntered smoothly to the front door, and as soon as it came to a stop, Neji pulled off the seatbelt. Smirking slightly at how impatient his date was to end this so called date, Shikamaru said, "Allow me," then he also moved. He quickly pulled off his own seatbelt, opened the door and walked with purposeful steps around the car.

Acting like a perfect gentleman, he opened Neji's passenger door. The Hyuuga stepped out, a scowl marked his pretty face, "I'm not a girl, Nara."

"The last time I checked, you are indeed a man, Hyuuga. And you've got a very impressive member, well, not as big as mine, but still. Kidding," Shikamaru added after seeing the long-haired guy gaped at his implied words. Neji's scowl deepened and said crossly, "I can't believe you joke about something like that."

"I'll joke about anything if only to put a smile on your pretty face," he replied.

"Well, not to be rude, but you have a very offensive sense of humour," Neji stated with a disapproving frown.

"Really? Just give it some time; I think maybe you'll find them amusing in the end."

"Doubtful," cutting the conversation short, the Hyuuga started walking towards the double door and closed it immediately, not sparing even a glance at Shikamaru.

The basketball star snickered. Hyuuga Neji just left him alone, standing at the porch like some lost puppy without even saying goodbye. Of course that was what would happen, this was Hyuuga Neji after all. What did he expect? A sweet, goodnight kiss? Not likely to happen. Shaking his head, he got behind the wheel and drove off, the gate opened immediately upon his arrival. His mind wandered as he drove his Porsche into the night. Now that the so-called-date was over, the Nara could focus on his basketball team. They had a scheduled practice tomorrow, and he just had a great time with the Hyuuga. The captain only hoped his good mood wouldn't be so obvious.

Shikamaru when whistling and humming a cheerful tone was definitely a sign for a thorough investigation that would inevitably come, Gaara decided. The last time this phenomenon occurred was when they won title for National Championship. Even then, the cheerful tone he hummed was somewhat less cheerful than this one (yes, as weird as it may seems, Gaara, although blatantly refusing, actually remembered the degree of cheerful Shikamaru's hums, a fact that he vehemently regarded as an obligation of a good vice-captain and nothing more). Therefore, the redhead was surprised when his captain conveniently _skipping_ along in to the gym that day, hands tucked in his short's pocket, mouth curved up forming a smirk, eyes glinted and looking extremely pleased. On closer inspection, the Nara didn't even slouch, and if Gaara had any eyebrows left, he would surely raise them high.

Considering the fact that the practice hadn't even begin to start like it was supposed to, Shikamaru should not have any reason to be looking that happy. On normal circumstances, he would have thrown a punishment (most likely running laps around the gym) even if the practice was just five minutes late. And now, the unpunctuality had increased into fifteen minutes and the captain didn't even have a scowl marking his handsome face. It was no wonder then, when Shikamaru shouted a jolly "Hey guys", the whole team, who were shivering earlier in fear of collapsing due to exhaustion before the _real _practice even started, looked among themselves worriedly. Gaara of course remained impassive as ever, eyes widening minutely was the only he was as confused as everyone else.

"What had put you in such good mood?" Naruto asked warily.

To everybody's surprises, the captain only laughed, "God, he's such a funny boy, don't you think?" He asked around, finger pointing at the blonde's direction. "You're so funny," Shikamaru continued as he petted Naruto's cheek. The other team members could only raised their eyebrows higher.

Of course nobody said anything; they were too shocked to even comment their captain's surreal behaviour. The continued silence that answered him didn't seem to dampen Shikamaru's mood, as he proceeded from humming to singing now.

"Shikamaru," Kiba breathed, "What happened to you?" Apparently he came to conclusion that perhaps his friend had fell on his head and damaging the brain within, hopefully not permanently.

Now, Shikamaru looked a little bit confused, although he still had that grin on his face, "What? I can't be happy for once?" As if to emphasize this point, the captain threw open his arms dramatically, which of course a gesture that is so _unlike_ him.

"That's the problem. You're never been this happy."

"What do you mean? I'm always happy," Shikamaru answered with a smile.

"Yeah, but not this happy," Naruto pressed on. The others nodded in agreement.

The basketball star furrowed his brows, as if he didn't understand what they were talking about. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Anyway, let's get going. Go for laps, guys. We're already late for practice."

"And whose fault is that?" Kiba added sarcastically, earning snickers from the team and a glare from Shikamaru. The Nara rolled his eyes; as he began to run, he shook his head, trying to clear his mind away from a certain dark-haired Hyuuga. _This isn't healthy; Hyuuga, what the hell have you done to me?_

**Author Notes: R&R please! Hope you like this chapter! **


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